It’s Always Been About You: Family Constellations

[play video] My approach to counseling is to always honor the client’s central position in their own life. Sometimes people may criticize themselves for not living up to what their parents wanted for them. Or they may fear that they are not what their social group expects them to be. Or they may purposely give their attention to others (children, sicknesspharmacy partner, lookonline family, job, etc.) and in doing so their physical body gets the message that it does not count as much as others do. The process of “sacrificing” one’s own needs for the sake of others may leave their body and immune system with reduced ability to handle shocks and traumas that occur in life.\n\nKnowing more about how the whole of you (body, brain, and autonomic nervous system) can be more effective at staying healthy and in healthy relationships can make life more meaningful and enjoyable too. [Note: read my newer blog essay on Your Three Control Systems.]\n\nOne helpful step you can take is to attend a Family Constellation workshop. This is a type of movement and observation therapeutic experience that is unique; words do not fully explain what the experience does for people who attend.\n\nThe video that is at the top of this page describes some of the forces behind the flow of personal dynamics in a person’s relationships to the Human Family that are grounded in what their own birth parents and their ancestors have experienced.\n\nFor some people: A limited time in childhood (according to psychiatrist Clancy McKenzie, M.D.) can act as a “window of risk” in which if a child thinks or feels that it has been abandoned by the mother, there can be established a strong memory of being separated from the source of life. This can become a PTSD (“Post Traumatic Stress Disorder”) event, that Dr. McKenzie has detected in the past history of his patients who have later on in their life come to him for psychiatric care for such conditions as Schizophrenia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. There is much more information in his book, “Babies Need Mothers: How Mothers Can Prevent Mental Illness in Their Children.” Introducing Dr. McKenzie and his book.\n\nYour “assignment”: After reading this description and looking at the linked pages please take time to consider the benefits of Family Constellations as a way to change a person’s inner remembering process regarding their family’s history of shocks and traumas.\n\nThe autonomic nervous system is integral to virtually all processes and perceptions and so it is worth it to also learn about the ANS. The ANS is affected by Family Constellation work and can be a powerful addition to Body psychotherapy and Craniosacral therapy (with Somato-Emotional Release). These all are intended to give you the client more control over your life, so that you can experience more positive changes in your health of body and mind.\n\nI wish you a meaningful and enjoyable day today and always. — Dr. Wilson\n\n